Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

[kanabro]

I have an '06 VW Passat, I'm gonna do my first detail on it this weekend & was wondering if using the Deep Crystal System Polish would just be a waste of time & product/money?

I read Mike's post "a lesson from white paint" & I saw about the importance of using a paint cleaning product (I'm gonna use Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner), but I didn't see any mention about using a polish.

Any comments or suggestions from experience?

Thanks,

Ryan

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

For a brand new car or a brand new paint job probably not very much because it's brand new paint.

Think about it, brand new paint shouldn't need anything but to be washed and waxed.

As paint wears, then polishing with a pure polish like the kind Meguiar's makes is good for the paint even if you can't see the results. Read this,

Why Meguiar's recommends polishing paint


What are you working on?

[kanabro]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Mike,
It is a year old & I don't have a garage.
Does that change anything?

"Think about it, brand new paint shouldn't need anything but to be washed and waxed."

I think it needs claying at least - has that rough feel to it, but I'll double-check how it feels after I wash it.
Does that sound like a good plan?

Also, are you suggesting that I don't use the Paint Cleaner either?

Mike, also note that I didn't buy it brand new, so I'm not sure if it's ever been waxed (I've had it for 2 mos.)
There aren't any noticeable swirls or scratches, but I haven't closely inspected it, plus w/ the white paint they don't stand out as much if they're there.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Wash
Clay
Clean
Polish --> Optional
Wax

If you want, you can polish the paint with something like Deep Crystal Polish or #7 Show Car Glaze, you won't see a striking difference. If the paint is still very impermeable, as in not opened up from wear and tear or compounding, then polishing probably won't add much, if the paint is permeable, opened up from wear and tear and/or compounding then polishing won't hurt, might not help and you won't see any difference in most cases.

What is your goal?

To make the paint look as good as it can?

or

To preserve the paint for as long as possible?

You can accomplish both without applying a pure polish, polishing is an optional step for mostly appearance reasons, like gloss and depth, with white paint there's not much depth as compared to black paint.

[Rob66]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Hey Kanabro,

Re Polishing a white car. I recently detailed a friends white Audi A4(hard paint) and had excellent results. White is an extremely rare choice of car colour in the UK, so was looking forward to the job - unfortunately i dont have any pics at the mo to load up, but this was the process, the car was 18months old.

Wash with Megs Hyper Wash using Karcher Foam Gun
Clay whole car with Megs Quik Detailer Clay and Quik Detailer spray.
'Polished' using Megs #80 with the PC at Speed 4, two passes.
Applied NXT by hand and removed with PC at speed 4.

The results were excellent, and although i dont think you will ever get the 'wow' just waxed look of black paint the car still looked great. DEFINATELY clay the car, if you just clay and then wax you will see a noticeable difference on a white car.

Alternatively rather than polishing and waxing try Colour X after the Clay.

Best of luck.

Rob

EDIT: Was typing this as Mike was replying to you!

[CharlesW]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

(I'm gonna use Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner)

It sounds like you are planning to hand use the products you decide on, so....
If you haven't already purchased the Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner, you would really be impressed with Color-X followed by NXT Tech Wax.
Inexpensive, usually readily available, very easy to use, and do a great job.
We have two white cars in out family and I definitely feel some type of cleaner/polish is well worth the effort.

[kanabro]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Robb, thanks for the input, I really appreciate it.

One other side note, I'll be doing everything by hand.

Mike,
As to what I'm trying to accomplish, I always what to preserve the paint for as long as possible, but I really want to make my car look as good as possible.
How do I tell if my paint is still impermeable?

Here's what I was planning on doing/using:

Wash - NXT wash w/ Megs wash mit, using two bucket system w/ GritGuard. Dry using Megs water magnet.
Clay - Megs clay kit
Clean - Megs Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner
Polish - Megs Deep Crystal System Polish
Wax - NXT Tech Wax (liquid)

Mike, let me know if I should change, add, or remove anything from this list.

Thanks again for your insight Mike.

[kanabro]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Charles, thanks for the input.
I have already purchased the Deep Crystal Cleaner & Deep Crystal Polish, but they can be easily returned.

How does using these two compare to using Color-X?
In my experience (very little, btw), I've noticed that 2-in-1 steps don't usually give as good results as doing the 2 steps seperately.

Has anyone compared the differences to using Color-X to using the Deep Crystal Cleaner then Deep Crystal Polish?

Mike, I'd like to hear your opinion on this too.

[Murr1525]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

My color of paint isnt the best for comparing products, but you'll have to pry my bottle of ColorX from my cold dead hands...

ColorX will actualy be a bit better at removing swirls than DC#1, though I would rely on ScratchX for that sort of thing anyway.

I'd bet on darker colors you may see the difference, but on a lot of lighter colors, ColorX will be very close to the DC1 and 2.

[kanabro]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Murr,

I also have some Scratch X.
Another reason I bought the DC Cleaner & DC Polish is because I'll be working on two cars.
My wife has an '03 that has some nasty looking holograms from when the dealership repainted some of the hood.
So, for her car I was going to use Scratch-X & then DC Polish

Since my car is only a year old & doesn't have many scratches or swirls, I was going to use the DC Cleaner & then DC Polish.

Does that sound right?

[Murr1525]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Sounds right.... Though you are going to have your work cut out for you removing holograms. Swirls from a machine can be removed, but will take a bit of extra effort and passion... and an extra application or two. Least it isnt on the whole car.

[kanabro]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Sounds right.... Though you are going to have your work cut out for you removing holograms. Swirls from a machine can be removed, but will take a bit of extra effort and passion... and an extra application or two. Least it isnt on the whole car.

I was hoping it wouldn't be too hard. I figured that since I don't have a G100, that I might have a good work-out on Saturday.
But, that's good, I got some holiday poundage I gotta work-off.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Murr,

I also have some Scratch X. Another reason I bought the DC Cleaner & DC Polish is because I'll be working on two cars.

My wife has an '03 that has some nasty looking holograms from when the dealership repainted some of the hood.

So, for her car I was going to use Scratch-X & then DC Polish

Since my car is only a year old & doesn't have many scratches or swirls, I was going to use the DC Cleaner & then DC Polish.

Does that sound right?

Your products and plan sound dead on, be sure read through these links,

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to use ScratchX by hand to remove below surface defects

[kanabro]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Your products and plan sound dead on, be sure read through these links,

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to use ScratchX by hand to remove below surface defects

Great! Thanks Mike. That really makes me feel a more confident that I'm understanding this detailing stuff.
Seriously, reading the stuff you put on here & having you available to answer questions is absolutely priceless.

Mike I'm curious to your thoughts on the differences between using just Color-X or using DC Cleaner & DC Polish together.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is it pointless to use Polish on a White Car?

Mike I'm curious to your thoughts on the differences between using just Color-X or using DC Cleaner & DC Polish together.

Thanks for the kind words, but it's truly a team effort here at Meguiar's.

As to your question, generally speaking, you will usually get your best results by using a multiple step process using dedicated products for dedicated procedures.